Four felony counts dropped; $10,000 in restitution paid

DIXON – A Dixon woman pleaded guilty to misdemeanor computer tampering and must pay $10,000 in restitution in a 2013 case that originally accused her of defrauding an elderly woman of more than $150,000.

Audrey Stanley Smith, 33, pleaded guilty June 19 in Lee County Court. She applied the $10,000 bond she had posted to her restitution requirement.

According to court records, Smith made a series of withdrawals from the Dixon woman’s bank accounts and took out a loan on her property. The transactions involved accounts at Amcore and Midland States banks and occurred between Aug. 2, 2006, and April 15, 2010, court documents say.

Smith was manager of the Oregon branch of Rockford-based Amcore Bank, which was sold to Effingham-based Midland States Bank in January 2011. She was terminated in April 2012 for a “willful violation of bank policy” and “unprofessional and negligent behavior as a banking center manager,” claims that do not relate to any transaction involved in this case, the documents say.

The case was prosecuted by the state attorney general’s office. In exchange for Smith’s guilty plea, felony charges of theft, financial institution fraud, financial exploitation of the elderly, and wire fraud were dropped, and a fifth, computer fraud, was amended to the misdemeanor.

When asked why the case only resulted in a misdemeanor conviction, Maura Possle, press secretary for the attorney general’s office, said the decision was based on the evidence the office would be able to produce.

“The resolution was reached based on the evidence in this case, and in consultation with the victim, the most critical aspect of the resolution is that the defendant is required to pay restitution,” Possle said. “After carefully analyzing all the evidence that could be introduced at trial, $10,000 was the amount stolen from the victim.”